Solid adjustable mechanism for infinite height setting

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to an adjustable mechanism capable of achieving infinite height settings. This mechanism may be employed as a supporting or spacer block for various machining operations, or as a gauge block for inspection or other measuring functions. In the present disclosure, said mechanism is described and illustrated as a sine plate supporting block. In this regard, the mechanism or supporting block is used by a machinist in adjusting the elevation of a tiltable plate member of a sine plate machine tool. The supporting mechanism may include a plurality of discrete bottom base supports of different thickness so that large incremental changes in the overall height of the mechanism can be achieved in multiples of the thickest to the smallest base support. Primarily the assembly comprises a slide housing which receives a slide element transversely movable therein so that the top surface of the slide element moves vertically upwardly and downwardly relative to the slide housing and is at all times parallel to the bottom surface thereof. The slide housing has an inclined surface which has the direction of inclination transverse to the support bar of the upper member of the machinist&#39;&#39;s sine plate. The slide member is securely held in position by a pair of lock bolts which are angled to be perpendicular to the inclined surface, and there is provided washers having flat edge sections engaging the sides of the slide so as to prevent turning of the washers during tightening of the lock bolts, which might upset the height setting.

United States Patent [191 Casey et al. I

[ 1 June 28, 1974 1 SOLID ADJUSTABLE MECHANISM FOR INFINITE HEIGHTSETTING Inventors: Morris Dick Casey; Richard W.

Casey, c/o Casey Tools & Die Co. M-40 South, Dowagiac, Mich. 49047Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 Appl. No.: 312,040

US. Cl... 33/174 S, 33/162 Int. Cl. G0lb 3/30 Field of Search 33/174 S,174 TC, 162

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1953 Tornebohn 33/16210/1957 Ozbilgic 33/162 OTHER PUBLICATIONS John Roberts, Adjusting Wedgefor Heavy-Duty Sine Bar," June 6, 1946, page 143, American Machinist.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT The present disclosure is directed to an adjustablemechanism capabltings. This mechanism may be employed as a supporting orspacer block for various machining operations, or as a gauge block forinspection or other measuring functions. In the present disclosure, saidmechanism is described and illustrated as a sine plate supporting block.1n this regard, the mechanism or supporting block is used by a machinistin adjusting the elevation of a tiltable plate member of a sine platemachine tool. The supporting mechanism may include a plurality ofdiscrete bottom base supports of different thickness so that largeincremental changes in the overall height of the mechanism can beachieved in multiples of the thickest to the smallest base support.Primarily the assembly comprises a slide housing which receives a slideelement transversely movable therein so that the top surface of theslide element moves vertically upwardly and downwardly relative to theslide housing and is at all times parallel to the bottom surfacethereof. The slide housing has an inclined surface which has thedirection of inclination transverse to the support bar of the uppermember of the machinists sine plate. The slide member is securely heldin position by a pair of lock bolts which are angled to be perpendicularto the inclined surface, and there is provided washers having flat edgesections engaging the sides of the slide so as to prevent turning of thewashers during tightening of the lock bolts, which might upset theheight setting.

SOLID ADJUSTABLE MECHANISM FOR INFINITE HEIGHT SETTING BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION side of a right triangle formed by lower and upper plate l5members of a machinists sine plate.

With reference to prior practices, during the manufacture of articles bymachining there is occasionally the need to cut, mill, grind or drill aworkpiece at an angle relative to a flat support or top surface of theworkpiece. This is accomplished by fastening the workpiece to what isknown as a sine plate so that the milling, cutting, grinding or drillingcan take place at an angle which is set according to the trigonometricsine function of said angle. The sine plate has a pair of pivotal platemembers, one forming the adjacent side of a triangle and theotherforming the hypotenuse of the triangle. The opposite side of thetriangle is formed by a support block positioned between the free endsof the plate members. The free end of the top plate member, i.e. the oneforming the hypotenuse of the triangle, has a round bar fastened theretoso that line contact is made with a support surface positionedtherebeneath. When it is desired to position the top plate member of thesine plate at a given angle, a trigonometric table can be used todetermine the sine function of the desired angle which, in turn, willreveal the height of the opposite side of the triangle, i.e. the sidebeing formed by the support block. For convenience, the base of the sineplate, that is the plate member forming the adjacent side of thetriangle, is of a length such that the trigonometric values can beconverted directly into inches. Once the height of the opposite side isknown, a set of gauge blocks, measuring devices of extreme accuratedimension, are used to fabricate a supporting unit of a predeterminedheight. This is then measured accurately and checked against theappropriate dimensions obtained by the trigonometric function. Once theaccurate dimension is obtained by means of the gauge blocks a block ofmetal is machined to this dimension. This block of metal provides thedesired support unit, and employed with the sine plate at the endthereof to form the support between the pivotal plate members. This isdone, since the gauge blocks are extremely expensive and would bedamaged if used to support the sine plate directly.

This measuring and machining of a separate support block requiresconsiderable time and is therefore relatively expensive. The gaugeblocks used to fabricate a measurable unit are much too sensitive anddelicate to be used as support blocks in the sine plate unit. Morespecifically, they cannot be used around abrasive grinder dust nor canit withstand milling pressures and vibrations. Therefore, each time anew support block is needed, it must be fabricated first by the gaugeblocks and then machined from a solid piece of metal to the same exactheigth. Should too much metal be removed, the machinist has no recoursebut to start over.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an adjustable mechanismcapable of use as a support block for a machinists sine plate which canbe adjusted directly to the desired height thereby eliminating the needof machining a separate block for every angle or set up.

In addition, the adjustable mechanism of this invention may be employedwith a plurality of discrete base elements of predetermined thicknesswhich are in predetermined multiples of, for example, one-tenth of aninch. There may be provided four such base plates of thicknesses rangingfrom 0.10, 0.20, 0.30 and 0.60 inches and so on. These base plates maybe aligned one on top of the other by suitable aperture and pin means.The aforementioned adjustable mechanism is mounted to the top portion ofthe joinedbase plates so that the final thickness of the assembly isadjustable over an infinite range within limits.

For example, taking the adjustable mechanism alone, the slide housingwill preferably have a height of 0.200 inches. This value is chosensince most sine plates have a support block mounting slot 0.200 inchesin depth.

, Thus, with the mechanism mounted in the slot, and the slide element inits lowermost position, the sine plate can be set to 0. The overallheight of the mechanism is thus adjustable to any value therebetween0.200 and the maximum height obtainable with the slide element in theuppermost position, i.e. 0.300 inch. In situations where the desiredheight for the supporting unit is greater than the maximum obtained withthe mechanism per se, the above-mentioned base plates are used. As themechanism itself is adjustable and will be set using precision gaugeblocks or some other measuring unit, these base plates need not bemachined to close tolerance.

Still another distinct advantage is that with the prior art practice ofmachining a solid block to size, if too much material was removed or anerror made in the height calculation producing an undesired unit, themachinist had to start over. With the present invention, one need onlyreadjust the slide element.

The adjustment is accomplished by providing an inclined surface in theslide housing, such that the inclined surface is oriented transverse tothe support bar of the upper plate member of the machinists sine plate.Secondary inclined surfaces are provided outwardly of the slide surfaceand have threaded apertures formed therein to receive locking screws.The longitudinal axis of these locking screws are then oriented to besubstantially perpendicular to the inclined surface, this providingmaximum efficiency in gripping of the slide element which is movablealong the inclined surface. A stop pin is provided and extends upwardlyof the inclined surface to be inserted into an elongated slot so thatthe extent of travel of the slide along the inclined surface is limited,this limiting action being a function of the length of the slotreceiving the pin. Most advantageously the washers about the lockingscrews have flat edge portions extending toward the slide element and inclose proximity with the side wall surfaces thereof. By so providing theflat portions on the washers the washers are prevented from turningduring tightening and loosening of the lock screws. This then preventsthe slide from being moved out of position during tightening or in usewhere machining vibrations are encountered.

The adjustable mechanism can be adjusted to accura- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a machinists sine plateshowing the adjustable mechanism of the present invention being used asa sine plate supporting block, a workpiece is shown mounted to the sineplate in phantom line;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper slide housing and slide unitsforming the adjustable portion of the mechanism of this invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the slide housing and slide of FIG. 2, andit shows its relationship with the support blocks therebeneath;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

2; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and furtherillustrating the adjustability of the slide member relative to the slidehousing.

FIGS. 6-8 show a modified form of the invention in which means areprovided for stacking members on top of a slide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG.1, there is seen a sine plate support assembly designated generally byreference numeral 10 for holding a workpiece, shown in phantom line, sothat milled slots or holes can be formed in the workpiece at the desiredangular displacement relative to either the top or bottom surfacethereof. The sine plate assembly 10 includes an upper plate member 11and a lower plate member 12, each having a plurality of aperturestherethrough. The apertures in the upper and lower plate members may bethreaded so that the workpiece can be held in position against analignment or register bar 13 or other similar alignment or registermember. In the illustrated embodiment disclosed herein the sine platesupport mechanism 10 includes locking straps l4 and 16 on each side ofthe sine plate and these locking straps are held in place by socket headscrews 17. However, when extreme weight is applied to the sine plate,the locking straps l4 and 16 may tend to flex or otherwise move, thisbeing an undesirable effect as it will change the angle of the topplate. To insure proper support of the upper plate member 1 1, asupporting block is positioned between the upper and lower sine platesto that a bar 18 of the upper plate member engages the top surface ofthe supporting block. The height of the supporting block is accuratelydetermined so that the trigonometric sine function of the angle desiredis obtained by the side opposite the angle being measured.

In accordance with the principles of this invention, the support blockis an adjustable construction designated generally by reference numeral20. The adjustable support block construction 20 includes an uppersection or mechanism 21 which is infinitely adjustable within its rangeso that settings of four and five decimal places is readily obtainable.Coarse adjustments in the height of the assembly 20, i.e. adjustments insteps of tenths of an inch or more, are obtained by employment of thevarious sizes of the base plates 22 beneath the adjustable mechanism 21.The base plates 22, for example can come in thicknesses of 0.10; 0.20;0.30; 0.40; 0.50, etc. and any one or combination of the base plates canbe used to achieve the desired height. The lower plate member 12,includes a pair of slots 23 and 24, designed to receive therein supportassemblies 20. Normally one assembly would be used in each slot, oralternately a single central slot and support assembly might beemployed. The slots 23 and 24 are preferably formed to a depth of 0.200inch, which corresponds to the height of mechanism 21, with the slide inits lowermost position.

The fine adjustment of top section or mechanism 21 is more clearlyillustrated in FIG. 2 which shows a perspective view of the slidehousing section 26 which receives a slide element 27. The slide housing26 includes an inclined surface 26a along which the slide 27 travels.The slide housing 26 includes a pair of diametrically opposed recessedportions 28 and 29 on opposite sides of the slide to receive threadedlock bolt means 30 and 31, respectively. The threaded lock bolts 30 and31 each have their axis perpendicular to the inclined surface 26a sothat maximum clamping force can be transferred to the gib or ledgeportions 27a and 27b of the slide 27. Thus, the upper surface of theslide 27 is adjusted by shifting the slide element transversely withinits slot for causing the slide to move upwardly and downwardly along theinclined surface 26. Once the proper position of the slide is achieved,it is maintained in that position by securely locking the lock bolts 30and 31 which act as clamping devices.

The slide housing 26 may include a pair of threaded apertures 32 and 33which receive assembly bolts (not shown) passing through the base platesbeneath the housing 26. The various base plate members 22 includecorresponding oversized, apertures 34 for accommodating said assemblybolts. These assembly bolts can be utilized to maintain the entire unit20 in a one piece condition for as long as necessary, or allow it to bebolted directly to the lower plate 12. Also formed in the slide housing26 is a pair of nonthreaded apertures 36 and 37 which receive alignmentpins 38 and 39, respectively, from one of the lower base plates, thesepins thus maintaining the stack of blocks in an aligned uprightcondition.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is seen an exploded perspective view ofthe adjustable mechanism of the present invention employed as a sineplate supporting block. Here it can be seen that the angle ofinclination of the axes of the lock bolts 30 and 31 are perpendicular tothe inclined surface 26a so that maximum gripping force is achieved.Also, alignment of the plurality of base plates beneath the slidehousing 26 is achieved by pins and apertures similar to the pins 38 and39 and apertures 36 and 37. The lock bolts 30 and 31 are provided withwashers 40 and 41 each having a flat edge surface 400 and 41a,respectively, which are directed inwardly in diametrically opposedrelation with one another and overlie the gib or ledge portions 270 and27b of the slide 27. The flat edges of the washers come in closeproximity to the side wall portions 42 and 43, and as the lock bolts 30and 31 are tightened the washers 40 and 41 are prevented from turningunder pressure by a wedge lock action between the flat edges and thesides of the slide member. This is best illustrated in FIG. 4 whichclearly shows the flat edge portions 40a and 41a in close proximity withthe side wall portions 42 and 43 of the slide 27. With the washers 40and 41 precluded from turning, tightening of the lock bolts will notalter the position of the slide 27. Also seen in FIG. 4 is alongitudinal slot 44 which is formed in the underside of the slide 27and is used to limit the extent of travel of the slide. The slot 44receives a pin 46 which engages the extreme ends of the slot to providethis limiting action.

Preferably, the slide 27 includes a step 48 formed at the top surfacethereof to provide two distinct surfaces or levels 49 and 50 upon whichthe bar 18 of the upper sine plate can rest. The incremental distancebetween the upper and lower surfaces formed by the step 48 can be anydimension desired, and can be even a multiple of the minimum fractionobtained by the base plates in FIGS. 6-8, there is shown a modified orcompanion version of the adjustable mechanism 21 discussed previously.In this regard, similar elements are designated by like referencenumerals primed The adjustable mechanism 21 of FIGS. 6-8 is, inpractice, considerably larger than the mechanism 21 discussed above, butconstructed on the same general principle. The mechanism 21' will, ofcourse, be used in situations where rather large workpieces are beingmachined.

Similar to the mechanism 21, the embodiment of FIGS. 6-8 employs a slidehousing section 26', to which is mounted a slide member 27'. The slidehousing 26' includes an inclined surface 26a along which slide 27travels. The slide member 27' is maintained in place by a pair of lockscrews 30' and 31, employed in conjunction with the flat side washers 40and 41.

The upper surface of the slide member 27', which is designated 60, isnot stepped, as is the case with previously described mechanism 21. Inaddition, surface 60 is provided with a pair of locating apertures 62and 64, as shown in FIG. 6.

Accordingly, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the upper support surface60 is designed to receive base plate elements 22'. These elements 22'are of varying thickness, thus rendering assembly provided by mechanism21' and plates 22' adjustable over an infinite range within certainlimits.

The individual base plate elements 22' will be of varying thickness,thus permitting a machinist to obtain a setting approximating thedesired height. Next the slide member 27' is moved to vary slightly theoverall height until the desired height is obtained. As seen in FIG. 8,each base plate member 22' includes a pair of locating or mounting pinelements 66 projecting from one surface thereof, and a correspondingpair of locating apertures 68 formed in the opposite surface, Thisarrangement permits the base plates 22' to be assembled in stackedrelation, as needed.

In practice, it is contemplated that the base plate member 22' will beessentially the same size as the base plate elements 22, employed withthe adjustable mechanism of FIGS. 1-5 and interchangable therewith. Assuch, a machinist need only purchase a single set of base plates, thisset being usable with either the small adjustable mechanism 21 or thelarger version 21'. F urther, by providing for additions of the baseplates, directly to the upper surface of the slide member, the size ofthe plate is reduced, as is the amount of material and machiningrequired to produce the base plate.

In addition, by sizing the base plates and slide support surface asdiscussed above, if desired one could employ the slide mechanism 21 ofFIGS. 1-5 atop the base plates 22'. Such an arrangement would lend afine degree of accuracy to large jobs.

By employing the adjustable mechanism of the present invention as a sineplate supporting block for machinist sine plates much time and labor issaved, thereby substantially reducing the cost of adjusting the angle ofthe sine plate. Accordingly, it will be understood that the adjustablemechanism of this invention can be employed as a support in a widevariety of situations, and is not limited to use as a support for a sineplate. In addition, variations and modifications in the generalstructure of this invention may be effected without departing from thespirit and scope of the novel concepts disclosed and claimed herein.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. An adjustable mechanism capable for use as a sine plate supportingblock or the like, comprising in combination; a slide housing having aplanar bottom surface and an inclined surface disposed at an angle withrespect to said bottom surface; a slide member movably positionedrelative to said slide housing on said inclined surface thereof, saidslide member having a lower surface and an upper surface, said lowersurface being inclined with respect to said upper surface at the sameangle as said slide housing surfaces, such that movement of said slidemember relative to said slide housing along the inclined surface of saidhousing will maintain the upper surface of said slide membersubstantially parallel with the bottom surface of said slide housingalthough producing relative vertical movement therebetween, whereby theeffective overall height of the mechanism may be varied; and lock meansto fix the position of said slide member relative to said slide housingso that the overall height of the mechanism, once set, can bemaintained, said lock means comprising a secondary inclined surface onsaid slide housing inclined at the same angle to said bottom surface assaid first mentioned inclined surface on said housing, a threadedaperture formed in said slide housing having its axis perpendicular tothe said inclined surfaces thereof, said slide member including a ledgeformed along an edge thereof in confronting relation to said secondaryinclined surface and parallel to the same inclined surface of the slidemember, and fastener means threadedly engaged with said aperture andincluding means overlying said secondary inclined surface and said ledgeto clamp said slide member firmly in position relative to said slidehousing.

2. An adjustable mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said fastenermeans includes a lock bolt, and said means overlying said secondaryinclined surface and said ledge includes a washer member carried by saidlock bolt.

3. An adjustable mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said washerincludes a flat edge portion engaged against a sidewall surface of saidslide member, such that upon tightening and loosening of the lock boltrotation of said washer and the corresponding movement of said slidemember are prevented to thereby maintain the relative position of saidslide member with respect to said slide housing.

4. An adjustable mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein a secondaryinclined surface, a corresponding ledge upon the slide member and lockmeans are provided on both sides of said slide member.

5. The adjustable mechanism to claim 1 wherein said slide housingincludes a pin extending upwardly therefrom and wherein said slidemember includes a slot to receive said pin, said slot having an extentto limit the travel of the slide member within said slide housing.

6. The adjustable mechanism of claim 1 wherein said upper surface of theslide member is stepped to provide two discrete supporting areas.

7. The adjustable mechanism of claim 1 further in- 9. The adjustablemechanism according to claim 8,

wherein said base means and said slide housing include at least two setsof aligned apertures, the aperture in said housing being threaded suchthat an assembly bolt can be disposed in said apertures to maintain saidmechanism in assembly.

1. An adjustable mechanism capable for use as a sine plate supportingblock or the like, comprising in combination; a slide housing having aplanar bottom surface and an inclined surface disposed at an angle withrespect to said bottom surface; a slide member movably positionedrelative to said slide housing on said inclined surface thereof, saidslide member having a lower surface and an upper surface, said lowersurface being inclined with respect to said upper surface at the sameangle as said slide housing surfaces, such that movement of said slidemember relative to said slide housing along the inclined surface of saidhousing will maintain the upper surface of said slide membersubstantially parallel with the bottom surface of said slide housingalthough producing relative vertical movement therebetween, whereby theeffective overall height of the mechanism may be varied; and lock meansto fix the position of said slide member relative to said slide housingso that the overall height of the mechanism, once set, can bemaintained, said lock means comprising a secondary inclined surface onsaid slide housing inclined at the same angle to said bottom surface assaid first mentioned inclined surface on said housing, a threadedaperture formed in said slide housing having its axis perpendicular tothe said inclined surfaces thereof, said slide member including a ledgeformed along an edge thereof in confronting relation to said secondaryinclined surface and parallel to the same inclined surface of the slidemember, and fastener means threadedly engaged with said aperture andincluding means overlying said secondary inclined surface and said ledgeto clamp said slide member firmly in position relative to said slidehousing.
 2. An adjustable mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein saidfastener means includes a lock bolt, and said means overlying saidsecondary inclined surface and said ledge includes a washer membercarried by said lock bolt.
 3. An adjustable mechanism according to claim2 wherein said washer includes a flat edge portion engaged against asidewall surface of said slide member, such that upon tightening andloosening of the lock bolt rotation of said washer and the correspondingmovement of said slide member are prevented to thereby maintain therelative position of said slide member with respect to said slidehousing.
 4. An adjustable mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein asecondary inclined surface, a corresponding ledge upon the slide memberand lock means are provided on both sides of said slide member.
 5. Theadjustable mechanism to claim 1 wherein said slide housing includes apin extending upwardly therefrom and wherein said slide member includesa slot to receive said pin, said slot having an extent to limit thetravel of the slide member within said slide housing.
 6. The adjustablemechanism of claim 1 wherein said upper surface of the slide member isstepped to provide two discrete supporting areas.
 7. The adjustablemechanism of claim 1 further including a plurality of plate members instacked relation mountable to the upper surface of said slide member,and means on said upper surface for releasably reCeiving said platemembers.
 8. The adjustable mechanism according to claim 1 furtherincluding base means adapted to be removably mounted to said slidehousing, said base means including a plurality of modular blocks ofdiffering dimensions adapted to be stacked one on top of the other, suchthat upon mounting to said slide housing the overall height of saidmechanism amy be further adjusted in fixed increments.
 9. The adjustablemechanism according to claim 8 wherein said base means and said slidehousing include at least two sets of aligned apertures, the aperture insaid housing being threaded such that an assembly bolt can be disposedin said apertures to maintain said mechanism in assembly.